Fungi are in the zeitgeist these days thanks to The Last of Us, but anyone expecting any such excitement from the organisms of Lichens Are the Way will be disappointed. The 43-minute film — which, by Academy definitions, makes it an extremely short feature, rather than a very long short — is a quiet mood piece, offering philosophical musings on what it looks like to live in harmony with one's surroundings.
Lichens have symbolic significance for director Ondřej Vavrečka, who turns to the expertise of botanists Trevor Goward and Curtis Randal Björk, a couple living together in the British Columbia woods.
Aside from a brief description of lichens' structural makeup courtesy of Goward, the film doesn't concern itself all that much with science. Rather, the atmosphere develops slowly, through 16 mm footage of the trees, fields and waterfalls around the couple's home. With an almost non-existent score and a natural soundscape of buzzing insects, it's less a nature documentary than a glimpse into the remote lives of its subjects.
Although Goward and Björk rarely appear on camer, and their faces are never clearly shown, Lichens Are the Way shows a couple doing their best to live in harmony with nature. Björk walks around naked, throws a stick for their dog Kabuki, and instructs Trevor how to look after the garden when he goes away on a work trip.
A short film showed at the beginning of the night, Life Invisible, revealed how Peruvian salt flats are being destroyed in pursuit of lithium to power electric vehicles — a harsh reminder that, ultimately, "green" energy may never be fully sustainable, and humanity will likely need to learn how to live with less opulence. Lichens Are the Way, with its slow pace and humble scope, shows what that might look like.
Hot Docs runs April 24 to May 4, 2025. Find details about tickets over at the festival's website.